


Dying of Coffee Leads to Wonderful Things

by pipsiev2



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Aromantic, Asexual Character, Attempt at Humor, Bisexual Character, Fluff, Genderfluid Character, Implied/Referenced Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Nonbinary Character, Other, Polysexual Character, Slow Burn, attempt at slow burn, felix if it wasn’t obvious, for like a sec, jimin’s there for like point five seconds, minho if it wasn't that obvious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 06:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16035047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipsiev2/pseuds/pipsiev2
Summary: "Listen,” a blonde stranger all but collapses onto the counter, slightly startling Hyunjin, “I don’t care if I die from this, just give me the sweetest, most caffeinated drink you can.” The stranger pauses. “Please.”Hwang Hyunjin never expected his coworker/friend's sleep deprived, needing to be caffeinated friend to be so cute.





	Dying of Coffee Leads to Wonderful Things

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in over a month so if the writing styles are inconsistent then that’s why.
> 
> also this is dedicated to my irl friend who’s the real og thank you.

“Listen,” a blonde stranger all but collapses onto the counter, slightly startling Hyunjin, “I don’t care if I die from this, just give me the sweetest, most caffeinated drink you can.” The stranger pauses. “Please.”

  
Hyunjin stares at the stranger, trying to process what exactly was just told to them because _um, what?_

  
Seungmin nudges them. “You heard him, Jinie. Go kill Jisung with sugar and caffeine. You’ll be doing the world a favor.”

  
Jisung raises his head from the counter and glares. “This is why Woojin hyung doesn’t like you.”

  
“You know Woojin?” It doesn’t really matter that Hyunjin’s not getting to Jisung’s order yet, since there’s no line and the place is fairly empty considering that it’s still well before rush hour, which is good since they’re pretty much shocked into place.

  
Jisung’s tired eyes look at Hyunjin. “How old are you?” He asks in a shocked tone, ignoring Hyunjin’s question.

  
“A couple of months older than you. Jisung is a day older than Felix, by the way.” Seungmin answers for them.

  
Jisung immediately responds with, “And Felix better not forget it,” before he frowns in Hyunjin’s direction. “Wait, but then why...” He shakes his head. “Never mind.” Jisung brightly smiles at Hyunjin. “Please give me the sweetest death that you can.”

  
“I-“ Hyunjin looks between a smiling Jisung and a smirking Seungmin. “Okay, give me a sec.” They mumble, getting to work.

  
As they’re making the drink, they glance over to Seungmin and Jisung talking. So, Jisung knows Woojin and Felix, too? How? Hyunjin themself only know Woojin because they’re his neighbor, and Felix from the fact that he’s a regular at the shop. It’s not really that surprising that Jisung knows Seungmin, though, Hyunjin supposes, especially since Seungmin tends to stay at the shop, even when he’s not working.

  
Hyunjin walks over and gives Jisung his drink (not quite as death inducing as Jisung requested, but they figured that Jisung probably doesn’t actually wanna die via coffee), receiving a soft, “Thank you,” as he reaches for his wallet.

  
Hyunjin puts a hand on his forearm to stop him. “It’s on me.” Hyunjin smiles at him as kindly as they can, watching the way Jisung’s mouth falls open.

  
“But-“ Jisung’s mouth flounders open and closed. “Why?” Is what he settles on asking.

  
“Because-"

  
“They probably think you’re hot.” Seungmin interrupts, distracted after having gone back to idly playing on his phone like he was doing before Jisung came in.

  
“ _Because_ ,” Hyunjin starts again, side eyeing Seungmin, “you look like you could use it. Consider it a gift of friendship.”

  
Jisung looks at them. “Do you bribe everyone into being your friend?” Seungmin chokes on air. Hyunjin blushes.

  
“I do _not_ .”

  
“You sure about that? I don’t think you sound so sure about that.”

  
“I-“ Hyunjin stares at Jisung. “You’re lucky that you’re cute.”

  
“Am I?” Jisung winks. “Well then-"

  
“Hey,” Seungmin calls out, “aren’t you late to music theory?”

  
Hyunjin watches as Jisung’s eyes go comically wide and he pulls out his phone. “Shit,” he mutters, “shit, shit, shit.” He reaches for his wallet again.

 

Seungmin laughs. “Jisung, just take the drink and go.”

 

“But-”

 

“ _Jisung_.” Hyunjin looks at Seungmin and sees that he’s almost collapsed onto the floor in laughter. “Just go. Don’t worry about the drink, you can complain about that next Tuesday or something. Maybe convince your friends to come to this coffee shop instead of a different one, while you’re at it.”

 

Jisung glares at him. “I’m not going to be how you advertise!”

 

“Okay,” Hyunjin interrupts softly, successfully drawing Jisung’s attention to them, “you don’t have to. Ignore the little devil.” There’s a slightly offended _hey_ that comes from Seungmin’s direction. “Just take the drink and go to class. I’m here Mondays thru Thursdays at this time every day and from three to ten on Fridays and Saturdays, if it bothers you that much.”

 

“Oh,” Jisung stares at them before looking down at their drink, “okay.” He nods. “All right. I’ll be back!” He waves. “Bye!” He practically sprints towards the door.

 

Hyunjin turns to glare at Seungmin (who’s still laughing, the asshole), blatantly ignoring the clapping from the few other customers that were there. “Why would you provoke someone who was late to class?”

 

He shrugs. “Why not?” He looks up from his phone and smirks. “Besides, Sungie isn’t actually gonna be late. Probably.”

 

Hyunjin sighs and shakes their head. “What am I going to do with you, aish.”

 

* * *

 

 

It’s a bit after 2pm when Jisung gets to the studio, mind still reeling from the pretty person at the coffee shop near his house which, wow, thank you Seungmin for giving a _heads up_. No wonder Woojin was constantly calling him the devil.

 

“Are you okay?” Chan’s the first one to speak, despite the fact that his eyes are still glued to the screen, his hands still working on the song he’s making.

 

Jisung sets down his bag by his desk and slumps onto his seat, staring blankly at the dark screen. “You know my friend Seungmin?”

 

“I’ve heard of him, yeah.” He hears Chan reply, the click of his mouse loud in the quiet room.

 

“I met one of his friend’s today.”

 

Chan hums. “That’s nice, Sungie."

 

“Hyung,” Jisung turns his swivel around to face Chan, “I like boys.”

 

Chan breaks his staring contest with his screen to glance at Jisung. “Was I not supposed to already know that?”

 

“And I like girls.”

 

“I know that too?”

 

“And I like people who aren’t guys or girls.”

 

“Sungie,” Chan turns to fully look at him, “where are you going with this?”

 

“Seungmin’s pretty friend is in the same year as I am but doesn’t call Woojin hyung “hyung” and I heard Seungmin say “they” when referring to pretty friend and I know it’s bad to assume but, hyung, I don’t think Seungmin’s friend is either and I think the friend’s really pretty and seems really nice and I really think I could have a crush on them if given time.” Jisung looks down at his hands. “I know I don’t really like, talk about people I like a lot, and like,” he’s pulling his sleeves over hands, “I know you don’t really like,” Jisung puffs out his cheeks in frustration. God, why does explaining feeling have to be so _hard_ , dammit.

 

Chan rolls his chair towards Jisung. “Sungie, take you time, yeah?” He looks up to see Chan smiling kindly at him.

 

“Hyung,” Jisung feels his eyes tearing up and looks back down, “this is okay, right? You guys won’t just leave me because I like someone who isn’t a girl, right? Because I-,” he takes a deep breath, chancing a glance at Chan. His eyes are focus on Jisung, his face back to being expressionless. Jisung hangs his head and closes his eyes. “I know that it’s, uh, different. Knowing that someone doesn’t only like girls and them being into someone who probably isn’t a girl. It’s- it’s fine, right?”

 

It silent for a moment and Jisung’s about to stand up and walk back out before he hears a creak. He feels arms wrap around him.

 

“Oh, Sungie.” He hears Chan’s voice crack, his head falling onto the crook of Chan’s neck. “Yeah, yeah of course. Of course it’s okay. Hyung would never think of you differently because you’re into people who aren’t girls. _Hyung_ isn’t even into girls. It’s fine, you’re fine.”

 

Jisung pulls back a bit. “You’re not?” He mumbles, wiping away tears from his eyes.

 

Chan laughs. “Nope, not in the slightest. How do you think I know Minho?”

 

Jisung feels the tips of his ears burning. “I thought you two just ran into each other at the bakery and hit it off.”

 

“Oh,” Chan shakes his head, “no. We used to go out in like, high school. Broke up when I went to college because it was too far away for us.” Chan did back down and pulls Jisung into his lap, wrapping his arms around Jisung. “You’re fine, trust me.”

 

Jisung nods. “Okay, okay. I’m fine, you’re fine, we’re both fine. You went out with Minho hyung which is something new, but not not entirely unexpected since you both somehow knew each other like the back of your hand. I still have to talk to Changbinie hyung, but that’s not the worst thing in the world. Okay. Good.” He nods again and looks up at Chan. “Okay.”

 

Chan runs his hand up and down Jisung’s thigh. “You good now?”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Jisung nods again. “Yeah. Maybe need some time to like, cool down. But yeah, I’m good.”

 

Chan opens his mouth to respond, but then the door swings open. Changbin stares at both of them. “Uh, are you two together or something?” He asks, confused. “Because like, that’s fine and all, but please don’t fuck in my studio.”

 

Jisung and Chan look at each other and laugh. Jisung turns to Changbin. “Nah,” he reaches for Chan’s hand and holds it, “just uh, bros being bros.”

 

“Please never say that again, _bro_.” Chan says in the most deadpan tone.

 

Changbin looks between the two of them. “O...kay?” He walks over to his desk. “Cool. Glad we had this talk.” He looks at both of them. “I mean it when I say it’s okay if you two are together as long as you don’t fuck in my studio.” He turns back to his screen. “I really don’t care about that.”

 

Jisung sees Chan give Changbin a soft smile out of the corner of his eye. “Thanks, but it’s really not like that.”

 

“Yeah!” Jisung adds on. Changbin turns to look at him, and there’s no way he doesn’t see the redness by his eyes. “Thanks, hyung, but we’re not dating.”

 

Changbin nods. “Alright. My statement still stands, though. I don’t want any of you bringing boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever and fucking in here.”

 

Chan fake gasps. “Why, we would never!”

 

Changbin glares. “Don’t like to me, hyung. I know you’re a fucking exhibitionist at heart.”

 

“Hey!”

 

* * *

 

 

Hyunjin’s behind the counter, putting the lid on the last order that the shop got, when someone taps their shoulder.

 

They turn around, eyes furrowed. “Seungminie?”

 

“Hey, Hyunjin.” Seungmin whispers, eyes downcast and a frown on his face. “Can I ask you to do me a favor?”

 

“Yeah,” they glance down to see Seungmin’s nails biting his own skin harshly and feel worry overcome them, “of course you can.”

 

“I- uh,” he glances into Hyunjin’s eyes and they can see the tears forming, “I know that I’m supposed to be taking over Jimin- uh,” he bites his lip, “Jimin noona’s shift at the counter while you make the orders but…” His face scrunches up, almost looking like he’s in pain. “But I’m pretty sure if I have to hear my voice repeatedly for the next couple of hours that I’m actually going to cry.”

 

Hyunjin quickly gives the order to Jimin (who thankfully hasn’t left yet, since Seungmin came in a couple of minutes early) and puts a hand on Seungmin’s shoulder. “I can take over counter duty, yeah. Is today one of _those_ days?”

 

Seungmin nods defeatedly. Hyunjin pulls her into a hug. “It’s okay, Minie. Want to go out after our shift’s over? We can invite Woojin, Minho, and Felix, too, if you want.” Seungmin nods again. “Okay,” they pull her into a hug and kiss her forehead before releasing her, “then I’ll go tell them.”

 

“Thanks.” Seungmin whispers softly, moving to the chair that she usually sits on when work’s slow, pulling out her phone.

 

“No problem.” Hyunjin smiles. They move to grab the apron that Jimin hands them, thanking her before bringing it to Seungmin.

 

“Is he okay?” Jimin quietly asks them before she leaves, concern written on her features.

 

Hyunjin glances at Seungmin. “Minie’ll be fine.” They decide to leave it at that, since they’re not really sure how much Jimin knows. Nothing about Hyunjin, that’s for sure, which makes it a safe bet that she knows nothing about Seungmin, either, considering the earlier “noona.”

 

It’s quiet for a couple of minutes after Jimin leaves, other than the idle chatter of the shop, before the bell above the door chimes.

 

“Hi, Jeongin,” Hyunjin smiles at him, “you’re not usually here at this time.”

 

“I’m not.” Jeongin nods. “I wanna talk to noona, if that’s okay.”

 

Hyunjin shrugs. “If she lets you then go for it, I have no control over Min.”

 

“Damn right you don’t,” Hyunjin hears a mutter from next to their ear. They turn to see Seungmin staring at Jeongin. Silently, Seungmin takes Jeongin’s hand and looks at Hyunjin. They nod and Seungmin’s dragging him to the break room.

 

“Was that Min?” A voice from the other side of the counter says. Hyunjin turns around.

 

“Hey, you’re the person from last week.” Hyunjin says, ears slightly pink. “Jisung, was it?”

 

The person nods. “Yeah, Jisung. Or like, squirrel or Han or something, that’s what my friends call me sometimes.” Jisung smiles. “Aw, you remembered my name, sweet.” Jisung looks down. “I, uh, don’t really know how to be a “proper gentleman,” or whatever that means, so I’m just going to be,” he taps his pointer to his chin, as though in thought, “upfront?” He nods. “Yeah, I’m going to be upfront about this but, uh, I never actually got your name last week.” He plays with his sleeves. “Sorry.”

 

“It’s fine,” Hyunjin smiles. Cute. “Hwang Hyunjin, at your service. What can I get you?”

 

Jisung covers his hand with his sleeve. “Well, I still haven’t paid or that drink last week, so…” He bites his lip and leans in a bit. “Is Minie okay?” He asks quietly, worry evident in his tone.

 

“Seungminie’ll be fine,” Hyunjin waves a dismissive hand, “just a bad day.” _Not usually this bad_ , Hyunjin’s brain supplies. “Jeongin’s doing his best to help. I’m taking Seungmin out with some friends later for comfort. Minie’ll appreciate your concern, though.”

 

“Jeongin?” Jisung tilts his head. “I think I’ve heard of him. Is he Min’s roommate?”

 

Hyunjin nods. “Yup. He’s in between classes right now so he’s here for Seungmin.”

 

“Ah,” Jisung sighs, seemingly deflating in relief, “that’s good. I was going to call later, but I forgot Seungmin works here. Tell Min to message me when you’re done, okay?” He’s biting his lip, looking hopeful. Hyunjin couldn’t even refuse if they wanted to.  
  
“Of course.” Hyunjin nods again.

 

“ _So_ ,” Jisung leans against the counter, using his hand to prop himself up, looking like a futile attempt to be suave when his other hand was clenched in a fist around the sleeve of his sweater, “about the drink. How much do I owe you?”

 

Hyunjin shrugs. “I mean, there are a few ways we could go about this…” They tilt their head in faux thought, since they already know what they want to ask (if anyone asks, _no_ , Seungmin did _not_ have anything to do with this “wise” decision). “You _could_ pay for the drink,” Hyunjin smirks, “or you could go on a date with me. Whichever works, really.”

 

Jisung stares at them, mouth agape. “I- wait- wait wait wait-” His mouth flounders open and shut. Seems like he does that a lot around Hyunjin. They’ve got to keep that in mind. “You’re not fucking with me, right? You mean it?” Is what he ends up asking.

 

“Why would I be fucking with you?” They frown. “Seungmin didn’t tell you that I’m an asshole, right? If so then I’m gonna have to kill the brat.”

 

“I- no?” Jisung’s lips pull into a pout. “I’m just- I’m not really used to pretty people asking me out…?”

 

Hyunjin tilts their head. “Are you sure? You don’t sound so sure.”

 

Jisung glares. “Hey! Don’t quote me! I said that in a moment of faux confidence hoping not to come off as a panicked gay, okay!”

 

“Oh.” Hyunjin studies Jisung’s face. _What did that mean?_ Did Jisung mean it in as, like, a general gay like _I’m not straight_ gay or like an _actual_ gay like _I like only guys_ gay? One way to find out, they guess. “Cool. I’m not a dude so like, please tell me now if that’s a turn off for you or something.”

 

Jisung’s mouth falls into an ‘O’ shape. It’s a couple of moments before he responds, Hyunjin’s gaze having gone from his face to the counter. “I mean like, I’m not like, opposed to dating people who are boy. Or aren’t boys. Or aren’t girls. I just like people. I’m like, poly. Sexual. And amorous.” Jisung’s playing with his sleeves again, wringing them tightly and undoing it.

 

Hyunjin looks up to see Jisung biting his lip. “Nice.” They wave a hand. “I’m bi.” The door chimes. They groan. “And also am sadly working right now.”

 

“Are you sure about that?” Seungmin comes out of the breakroom, Jeongin in tow, looking much more stable than when she first walked in (could be a ruse, would be a ruse, is _most definitely_ a ruse, but Hyunjin doesn’t have the right to call her out right now. Maybe tomorrow). “I’m pretty sure you’ve been talking this entire time.”

 

Jeongin laughs. “Yeah, we even waited a couple of minutes to see when you’d stop.”

 

“If I were an actual customer you’d both be fired by now, I hope you’ve realized this.”

 

Hyunjin smiles at him. “Minho, if you weren’t friends with us then you’d have been kicked out of here a long, _long_ time ago.”

 

“And besides,” Seungmin tilts her head, “don’t you have class right now?”

 

Hyunjin sees Jeongin moving to look from them to Seungmin to Minho. “Wait, you two know hyung?”

 

“What?” Jisung stares at Minho. “Do you, like, know _everyone_ here?”

 

Seungmin looks at Jisung. “You know oppa, too?” She whispers. _Well_ , Hyunjin thinks, _I guess that answers_ that _question_.

 

Jisung nods. “Yeah, hyung goes to the bakery by the studio I work in.”

 

“Hyung’s my dance instructor.” Jeongin joins in, earning an _“And you never told me about this?”_ from Hyunjin and Seungmin, though it’s not really clear which of the two they meant that for.

 

“Huh,” Hyunjin nods, “well then, now that you’re here,” Hyunjin gives him their phone, “message Felix and Woojin to meet us here later.”

 

Minho glares. “You couldn’t have done that yourself?”

 

“I was distracted.” Hyunjin pouts. “And answer Minie’s question.”

 

“I do. My student ditched.” He looks at Jeongin. “You’re lucky you have a good excuse or else I’d actually _punish_ you.”

 

“I’m a minute late.” Jeongin deadpans. “It _just_ turned a minute late, hyung. And you’re usually five minutes late. If I left when I was supposed to - which I didn’t because you came into the shop - then I would’ve been there 3 minutes before you usually show up.”  
  
Minho shrugs. “Hey, I never said I wasn’t late either.”

 

“Hey,” Jisung whispers into Hyunjin’s ear, “about that date…”

 

Hyunjin laughs. “If you’re thinking about ditching them then we can’t. Or, well _I_ can’t. Please, feel free to save yourself from this conversation.”

 

“Actually, I was going to ask for your phone number, but I mean ditching sounds fun, too.”

 

They hold out their hand. “Oh. I can give you my number, yeah.” They take his phone from his hands. “You know, I’m really glad we exchanged numbers like this.”

 

“Like this?” Jisung questions.

 

Hyunjin shrugs. “You know, like, not asking mutual friends for it like a fanfiction or something.”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Jisung nods, “agreed.”

 

They hear the bell above the door chime. “We didn’t even get to say goodbye.” Hyunjin pouts as they watch Jeongin and Minho leave. They watch as someone walks in through the door.

 

“Ah, I should probably get going,” Jisung smiles, “bye, Hyunjin!” He turns to Seungmin. “Bye Minie! I hope you feel better!”

 

She smiles at him. “Me too.” She says quietly.

 

Hyunjin moves to their position at the counter. “Hello, how may I help you?”

 

Out of the corner of their eyes they can see their phone vibrate in affirmation from Felix and Woojin. Sweet.

 

* * *

 

 

“Huh.” Jisung flinches in surprise, looking at the doorway to see Changbin watching him. “I guess you’re really _not_ dating Chan hyung.”

 

Jisung furrows his brows. “Of course I’m not? Why would you think I was?” Okay, so _maybe_ that wasn’t exactly the best question to ask, since Jisung knows that Changbin probably has folders of blackmail on all of his friends, and so he probably knows about the fact that Jisung use to (the key word being _use to_ ) have a crush on Chan, and the position he caught them in a while ago isn’t exactly the most _platonic_ of positions, but still. Not cool, man,

 

“I didn’t.” Changbin shrugs. Jisung doesn’t believe him for a minute. “I thought you somewhat got over him a while ago.” _Ah, there it is_. “I’m just saying this because I got confirmation from my boyfriend that you’re going on a date with someone else.”

 

Jisung’s eyes widen. “Wait. I know we’re talking about me but can we backtrack a bit. You have a _boyfriend_? A social recluse like you has a boyfriend? I’ll talk all you want, but you have to tell me about that some time.”

 

Changbin waves him off. “I’ll tell you about that a different day, I promise. So now, Hwang Hyunjin.”

 

“You know their name?” Jisung can’t help but ask questions, even though he’s the one that’s supposed to be interrogated right now. He’s pretty sure anyone would, given the situation. How many other people have to deal with someone who hangs out in completely different social circles (aka nonexistent (to Jisung since Changbin refuses to introduce him to anyone) ones) somehow 1. having a boyfriend and 2. finding out about your crush who they should _not_ know? If there’s enough people then maybe Jisung could start a club. Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

 

Changbin shrugs again. “My boyfriend’s their roommate. When’s your date?”

 

Jisung plays with his sleeves. “Honestly? We haven’t really planned it out, yet. We’re just getting to know each other beforehand.”

 

“Good.” Changbin nods, pulling his chair over to where Jisung’s is. He puts a comforting hand on Jisung’s thigh. “That’s good. I’m glad that you found someone you like, Sungie.” He licks his lip. “Also, I lied.”

 

“ _Uh_ , about _what_?”

 

“I actually found out through Felix.” Changbin pats his thigh and stands up. “But I wasn’t joking about my boyfriend being their roommate. Or confirming about you going on a date. I asked him after Felix sent me the name and he said he lived with them.”

 

“Damn,” Jisung bites his lip, “it really _is_ a small world.”

 

“Yup.” Changbin casually stretches before he turns back to Jisung. “Oh, by the way, my boyfriend says that if you hurt Hyunjin he hurts you.”

 

Jisung gulps, suddenly terrified for his life at the thought of someone as scary as Changbin (because, in Jisung’s mind, anyone Changbin dates has to be as scary, if not _scarier_ , than him) threatening him. “I’ll keep that in mind, Changbinie hyung.”

 

Changbin smiles. “Good, I’ll go tell hyung that he has nothing to worry about, then.”

 

 _Hyung?_ Well then, looks like Jisung’s fucked.

 

* * *

 

 

“So…” Minho’s laying down on their shared couch, head in Seungmin’s lap and gaze focused on Hyunjin. “Han Jisung.”

 

Hyunjin nods. “Han Jisung. What about him?”

“You asked him out on a date.”

 

“I did.”

 

It’s quiet for a moment before Minho sits up, maneuvering so that his head’s on Seungmin’s shoulder instead. “So, spill. When is it? Where are you going?”

Hyunjin shrugs. “I asked him out like, yesterday. Calm yourself.”

 

“So basically you have no fucking idea what you’re going to do.” Seungmin raises an eyebrow at him while she lifts a hand to run through Minho’s hair.

 

“And you don’t want to tell us because you’re trying to figure out what he likes on his own.” Minho adds, leaning into her touch.

 

“I mean,” Hyunjin shrugs again, “yeah. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you like someone, right? Get to know them before you pursue.”

 

Seungmin nods. “Make sure it’s love not lust, sorta. Yeah.”

 

Hyunjin looks at the two of them. “Besides, it’s not like I want to take him on a bad date or anything. I want to go out and do something that he likes.”

 

“What if you don’t like it?” Minho questions. “What then?”

 

“If you shrug again I’ll kill you.” Seungmin threatens.

 

“I-” They pout. “I thought you _wanted_ me going on this date, excuse you.”

 

“I do!” She smirks. “It doesn’t seem like a fun date if all you’re going to do is shrug every time he asks you a question, though.”

 

Hyunjin glares at her. “You know, sometimes I _really_ hate you.”

She blows them a kiss. “Love you too, Jinie!”

 

They roll their eyes. “ _Anyway_ , I’m absolutely positive that I won’t hate anything he wants to do. Especially since he’s somehow friends with the two of you, plus Felix and Woojin, and if there’s something I’ve learned about the four of you is that the people we’re friends with all have some sort of like, collective interests and disinterests where if one of us doesn't like something then the rest of us probably don’t like it, too.”

 

“Huh.” The two of them look at each other and then back at them. “You have a point.”

 

Hyunjin cringes. “How do you two do that?”

 

“Do what?”

 

“I-” Hyunjin sighs. “I’m just going to assume that it’s some sort of childhood friends thing.”

 

They both laugh.

 

* * *

 

 

The next time Jisung goes to the cafe, it’s with a plan. Sure, it’s a plan that both Changbin _and_ Chan had laughed at and guaranteed that it wouldn’t work, but joke’s on them because Seungmin is a god amongst men and was 100% into telling Jisung when Hyunjin’s break is. LIke, seriously, bless him. He’s the only reason why Jisung isn’t like, stalking the coffee shop (Seungmin assured him that Hyunjin probably wouldn’t mind being disrupted sometime _during_ work, too, but Jisung would feel bad for doing that a third time, so what can he do).

 

“Aw,” Woojin coos when he sees Jisung walk into the shop, “this is so cute.”

 

Felix nudges him. “I know, right?”

 

Jisung pouts. “Oh, _c’mon_. I expect this from Felix, but you, Woojin hyung? I’m ashamed.”

 

“I’m not.” Seungmin says, somehow manifesting next to Jisung. He leans closer to Woojin and whispers so that only the three of them can hear, “you’re doing great, hyung. Maybe you’ll make him whine loud enough that Jinie notices that he’s here all on their own.”

 

Jisung slaps his bicep. Woojin and Felix laugh. “What’s the point in saying that if I can hear you, idiot.”

 

Seungmin shrugs. “I wanted to see how quickly I could make you blush.” He pokes Jisung’s cheek. “Already looking like a tomato. Nice.”

 

“I-” Jisung shakes his head. “Fuck you.”

 

Seungmin winks. “You wish.”

 

Jisung glares at him. “I hate you so much.”

Seungmin kisses his cheek. “I love you too, Sungie!”

 

“Uh, what.” Jisung and Seungmin’s eyes widen and they both turn towards the doorway to the kitchen. Hyunjin’s standing there, apron dirtied with food and confusion written on their features. “Did I just see something I wasn’t supposed to…?” They direct that question towards Woojin and Felix.

 

“No.” “Yes.” Woojin and Felix turn to look at each other in a silent argument. Woojin covers Felix’s mouth with his hand. “Wow, I guess Felix got yes and no confused. No, it doesn’t matter if you saw that or not, so it wasn’t something you weren’t supposed to see.”

 

“O…kay…” Hyunjin looks like they don’t believe him, silently analyzing Felix to see whether he was being serious when he said yes or not.

 

Seungmin looks at his watch, and then at Jimin who just walked in through the door. “Oh, well, would you look at that. My shift just ended. Time to go third wheel Minho hyung and my boyfriend. G’bye!” He pulls off his apron and throws it at Jimin, sprinting towards the door, ignoring Jisung and Felix’s indignant cries of _“what boyfriend?”/”how’d you get a boyfriend before me?”_

 

Woojin looks at Felix. “Are you allowed to say that?”

 

Felix shrugs. “I mean, it’s not like there’s an aro rulebook so I _guess_ it is.”

 

Woojin nods. “Fair enough.”

 

“I-” Jisung looks between Felix and Woojin. He points at Felix. “You. You’re explaining that later. Maybe. If you’re fine with it.” He waits for Felix’s nod. “Okay. You’re telling me later, then. Anyway, you two aren’t who I came here for. I didn’t even know you two were _here_ until I came in just now.” He points at Hyunjin. “You. You’re who I came here for. I was notified that it was your lunch break-”

 

“Wait why-”

 

“-and I want to talk. If you want to. And would like to. Would you like to?” Jisung does his best puppy eyes. He _knows_ that most people can’t resist his puppy eyes. And by most people he means Changbin and Chan, and sometimes the occasional Seungmin and Minho (Woojin and Felix are immune to his charms, majority of the time. He only remembers one time where he was able to get Woojin with it, but Jisung was also extremely sick and looked extremely pitiful, so that’s more on guilt than the eyes). But whatever. It’s okay.

 

“Oh.” Hyunjin nods. “Okay,” they turn to see Jimin already looking at them.

 

“Go on, Hyunjinnie. It’s your lunch break. Plus, I’m pretty sure Jinyoung oppa won’t die by himself in the kitchen, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

 

“Thank you.” Hyunjin turns back to Jisung. “Well, where do you wanna go?”

 

* * *

 

 

It’s been quiet for a couple of minutes, ever since Jisung took Hyunjin to a take out place that he deemed “the best when you’re starving after hours or days in the studio” which, in all honesty, _should_ probably frighten Hyunjin for multiple reasons, one of which being why Jisung would be in a studio without eating for _days_ (which he later said was a slight over exaggeration, considering one of his friends _owns_ the studio, and lives right on top of it), and the other being the fact that this implies that Jisung has never gone there just to _eat_ (which he later explained that he _does_ go there, sometimes, with his friends or something, but, like, everything tastes better when you’re starving. It’s just that this place tastes _better_ than other places when you’re starving).

 

“So,” Hyunjin runs a hand through their hair. The two of them are sitting on a bench at a nearby park to eat their food, an awkward distance between them. “You wanted to talk to me?”

 

Jisung turns to them and nods, cheeks stuffed with food. Cute. He swallows down his food before he starts. “Yeah, I, uh, thought that this might be a better way to get to know each other, you know?” He’s playing with the sleeves of his shirt. “Since, like, it’s usually easier to get to know someone in person.”

 

Hyunjin nods. “Fair enough.” They smile at him in what they hope is a reassuring way. “How’s your day been?”

 

Jisung looks at the with wide eyes before turning back to his food. “Oh, I mean, it was fine. I had classes earlier, and have to go to another one in about,” he checks his watch, “two hours. Which is fine because it’s English and I share that with Seungmin and so I’ll have him there to entertain me since I don’t really need the class.”

 

“Do you already know English or do you just not care?” Hyunjin tries to think back to all the information that Felix and Minho had told them about Jisung (against their will, mind you). Did Felix say something about talking with Jisung in English? He might’ve, in all honesty, but Hyunjin was trying to block it out since they want Jisung to tell them himself.

 

Jisung nods. “Yup. I used to live in Malaysia so, yeah. What about you? How was your day until I self imposed on it?”

 

Hyunjin frowns. “It’s not really self imposing if I made a conscious choice to go with you. And my day was fine, if you ignore the nuisance that is Lee Felix dragging his pseudo-boyfriend, who’s also my neighbor, over during his lunch shift to annoy me while I was baking.”

 

Jisung laughs. “Yup, sounds like something Felix would do. I didn’t know that he was practically dating Woojin hyung, though. You bake?”

 

“He’s not so much as practically dating him as he is platonically dating him, which is weird to say and hard to explain, but like, you just see them together and _know_ , you know? Like when something’s not actually true, but it’s true _enough_ to feel true?” Hyunjin shakes their head. “I’m probably not making any sense right now, sorry.”

 

“I kinda get it, yeah. Like when something feels so true that it practically _is_ true, even to the people themselves, but it’s not really official so it’s not _technically_ true, sort of?”

 

Hyunjin nods. “Or like, it’s something that everyone acknowledges as true, but isn’t actually true, but at some point even the people that it’s _about_ forget that it’s not true?”

 

“Yeah. Even just plain misunderstanding on outsiders perspectives, too. Since even if it feels true to outsiders it doesn’t actually have to feel true to the people in question.”

 

“Exactly. I’m pretty sure Felix and Woojin feel like they’re dating in a weird friendship way, though. And I know that last Valentine’s day they went to New York for what was a business trip on Woojin’s part and decided to pretend to be a couple for the discounts.”

 

Jisung runs a hand through his hair. “I know, right? I’m pretty sure Felix has Woojin hyung as “teddy bear soulmate” on his phone. Even Changbin hyung, who’s my hyung who owns the studio, admits that he thinks that Felix sounds like, enamoured with Woojin hyung, but less in an “I want to date him” way and more in an “I want to do couple things without the romantic shit because I want to give the world to him but also don’t really think I can” way.”

 

“Yeah.” Hyunjin shrugs. “Woojin like, wants to wrap Felix up in a blanket sushi roll and just cuddle him constantly and wants to coddle him, which sounds romantic but the way he does it is in like, the most romantically platonic way possible with is _weird_ , but it’s also just so Felix and Woojin style that it’s not _actually_ weird.”

 

It’s quiet for a moment. “This conversation made no sense, didn’t it?” Jisung laughs.

 

“Oh, definitely not.” Hyunjin’s also laughing, their food all but forgotten during the conversation.

 

“You know, when I asked you here to get to know you, I didn’t expect to bond over our friends.”

 

“I-” Hyunjin presses their lips together and nods. “Same. But you know what? This was a fun conversation.”

 

“It was!” Jisung smiles. “I like talking to you.”

 

Hyunjin smiles back. “I’m glad we’re on the same page, then.”

 

“Ah,” Jisung suddenly frowns and checks his watch, “you have to go soon, right?” He turns his watch so that Hyunjin can see the time.

 

They nod. “Walk me back?”

 

Jisung’s smile comes back. “Sure!”

 

* * *

 

 

“You really like my little Hyunjinie, don’t you?” Minho has a cheshire grin on his face as he looks at Jisung from the small couch they have in the studio.

 

Jisung raises an eyebrow. “Your Hyunjinie?”

 

“Oh?” Minho’s grin somehow widens. “Don’t you know? I’m their roommate, so you two better watch what you do in the apartment.” He winks. “I’m only partially joking about that, by the way.”

 

Roommate. Hyunjin’s roommate. Minho. Who’s older than him. And who has somehow known everyone else that Jisung knows. And, thinking back on Hyunjin’s confusion at Minho knowing Jeongin, people they know, too. Who is also older than Changbin. And is his hyung. Minho. The person who could probably kill him with no remorse if he so much as looks at something the wrong way. Minho, whose way of caring is through violence and mothering. The scary Minho who dances and works out everyday and could probably smash Jisung to bits. Who is Hyunjin’s roommate. That Changbin said was dating him. Even though as far as Jisung and Chan know the two of them have never met. Minho.

 

“You’re dating my hyung.” Jisung says it before he thinks (which, to be fair, is pretty standard for him, all things considered).

 

Minho tilts his head, brows furrowed in confusion. “I am? You know Changbinie?”

 

Jisung gestures to Changbin’s desk. “Yeah, I work with him. That’s his desk. I’ve been his friend for years. He really didn’t tell you?” That doesn’t sound like Changbin, to keep something like this from his friend. _Boyfriends_ , Jisung’s mind supplies, _they’re dating, those bastards_.

 

“Hm,” Minho thinks about it (he’s probably pretending, that fucker. Not that Jisung would call him out on that, because Minho’s a menace and could probably make Jisung’s life a living hell if he wanted to), “he might’ve mentioned it, but if he did I probably wasn’t paying attention.” Liar. If Minho’s good at anything, it would be somehow knowing everything. Jisung doesn’t doubt for one second that Minho somehow knew everyone and anyone. Wait, what if Minho even somehow managed to plan Jisung’s meeting with Hyunjin? That’s not really _possible_ , but still…

 

Jisung shudders. “You’re creepy and I don’t believe that for a second.”

 

Minho scoffs. “I don’t need you to believe the truth, just accept it.”

 

Jisung eyes him wearily. “How did you get Chan hyung to agree to go out with you, again?”

 

“Easy. He was the one who asked me out.” He shrugs before his head snaps up. “Wait, how do you know Chanie hyung and I went out? Does Changbin know?”

 

“He told me…? Have you not told Changbin hyung…?” Jisung’s eyes are wide. There’s no way that Minho’s _that_ big of an idiot. He must be fucking with him, right?

 

“I-” Minho closes his mouth. He keeps his lips pressed together for a moment. Reopens his mouth. “Admittedly, I may have forgot about that.”

 

“ _Minho hyung you idiot_.”

 

“Listen,” Minho runs a hand through his hair, “this isn’t about me. This is about you and the possibility of you dating Hyunjin and fucking in my apartment when either one, I’m in the apartment, or two, it’s a public space _in_ the apartment not including the bathroom. Seriously,” Minho’s frowning, “if I’m there or you two do it anywhere other than Hyunjin’s bedroom or the bathroom, that’s not going to be fun. I’m fine with you two dating and all, in fact I _encourage_ it, just keep my boundaries in mind, please?”

 

Jisung nods and moved his chair towards the couch. He reaches out to grab Minho’s hands. “Of course, hyung. I understand, and I’m sure Hyunjin already knows all of this, too. We wouldn’t actively try to make you uncomfortable, _especially_ in your own home.”

 

“Thanks.” Minho’s looking at his lap. “I mean it, thanks.”

 

Jisung smiles at him even though he can’t see it. “Anytime.”

 

* * *

 

 

“So,” Hyunjin’s not facing him, but they know that Woojin’s smiling knowingly, “the date’s tonight. Are you nervous?”

 

Hyunjin turns around and glare at him. “Woojin, I literally went to your apartment like five minutes ago to ask for your help in making sure my outfit isn’t a mess. What do _you_ think?”

 

“And that was a bad decision in your part.” Felix (who was apparently now a package deal with Woojin) has his head in Woojin’s lap. “If you wanted fashion advice you should’ve gone to Minho hyung. He’s pretty hot when he’s wearing clothes.”

 

Woojin looks down at Felix. “You say that like you’ve seen him _without_ clothes.”

 

“Yup.” Felix nods. “That’s because I have.”

 

Hyunjin sighs and turns back towards their closet. “Wouldn’t you have been, like, sworn to secrecy or something like that?”

 

“So what?” They assume Felix shrugs. “If hyung complains about it then he’s basically just confirming that I wasn’t making up an elaborate lie just to fuck with him.”

 

“I-” Woojin probably shook his head. “You’re a horrible person, you know that?”

 

Hyunjin turns around quick enough for them to see Felix give Woojin a smug grin. “But you like me anyway.” He practically sings.

 

“And it’s the biggest mistake of my life.”

 

“You two are supposed to be helping me with my gay crisis, not openly flirt in front of me.” Hyunjin pouts. Felix blows them a kiss.

 

Woojin, at least, has the gall to look shameful as he shrugs. “Well, you aren’t really showing us the clothes we’re supposed to grade, so.”

 

Hyunjin walks to where the two are sitting on their bed and collapses next to them. “That’s because I don’t know what to wear. Because I’m nervous. I’ve never really been on a date, you know.”

 

“I doubt that.”

 

They glare at Woojin. “What makes you think I’ve been on dates?”

 

“You’re hot, and nice, and pretty, and have an alluring personality.” He shrugs. Hyunjin slaps their hand over his thigh.

 

He’s, objectively, not wrong. A lot of people think Hyunjin’s hot and pretty, and so does Jisung, probably. But, the problem is, that’s _all_ people tend to see about Hyunjin, and they don’t like that, so they usually _reject_ the people who ask them out. Can’t really reject someone that they asked out, though. Besides, they want to see where this could go. After all, not a lot of people go out of their way to find out (through absurd, would be dangerous methods had Seungmin not already known Jisung) when Hyunjin has lunch in order to get to know them.

 

“I don’t think most people care about the personality part, Woojinie.” They get up and walk back to their closet. “But that’s fine, I just have to find people that do, you know? If everything was easy then life would be boring.” They pull out a crop top and turns around, pressing it against their chest. “I forgot Felix got me this, to be honest.”

 

Felix looks down at the top and back at them. “Wear it. Seriously, wear it. Jisung’s gotta know what he’s getting into, and it’s not like he’s gonna react badly or anything, right, hyung?”

 

Woojin gives Felix a flat look. “Doesn’t Jisung own dresses?”

 

“ _Exactly_ .” Felix winks at Hyunjin. “Don’t worry about being too feminine or anything, Jisung _really_ doesn’t care about that.”

 

“I don’t think he’d be friends with Minho if he cared about that, in all honesty.”

 

“Okay, listen,” Hyunjin points a finger at Woojin, “Minho isn’t that feminine, usually. He just acts more feminine when flirting with people because he thinks it’s hilarious and because it pisses homophobes off. Which, like, is constantly because his dial is constantly set to flirt when he’s not at home because he’s, like, constantly vying for the title of gay king, which is ridiculous because you’ve already got him beat.”

 

Woojin shrugs. “I’d like to think of us more as equals, actually. A gay power brotp, if you will.”

 

Felix stands up and walks to Hyunjin’s closet and they move away from the door. “Is this like, a co-captain kind of gay ruling or like gay lovers kind of gay ruling?”

“A _gay_ kind of gay ruling.” Woojin winks.

 

Felix pulls back and shoves an outfit into Hyunjin’s hands. “Speaking of gay ruling, as a member of the bisexual parliament I rule this as a proper outfit for your date. Does the current gay king give permission for the head of the bisexual parliament to try on this outfit?”

 

Woojin gives Hyunjin a look. “Only if the current head agrees to come out and show us how they look in it.”

 

Hyunjin rolls their eyes. “I hate both of you so much. And why can’t I be head of the nonbinary parliament?”

 

“Because that’s Seungmin. You’re a part of it, though.”

 

Hyunjin nods. “Is Felix the head of anything?”

“The aromantic parliament.” Felix pats Hyunjin on the back and pushes them in the direction of their bathroom before they can question what he just said. “Now go get dressed.”

 

Before Hyunjin closes the door they hear Woojin say, “I don’t think this is how kingdoms work, Felix.” Felix responds with, “Hey, anything goes in our imagination.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jisung’s nervous. He’s nervous, and afraid, and maybe feeling slightly intimidated (listen, okay. Finding out Changbin’s boyfriend was, in fact, the infamous _Lee Minho_ did absolutely _nothing_ to make Jisung less scared, because Minho’s a good guy, but he can be _evil_ when he wants to be. Plus, Jisung already has two threats from him under his belt, which is _never_ a good thing when it comes to Minho).

 

He’s sitting on the bus, slowly waiting for it to reach his stop so that he can get off. He thinks he sees Chan and Changbin hiding behind magazines on the bus, but he’s not too sure. Honestly, Jisung wouldn’t really be surprised if that were the case, knowing Chan. Getting Changbin to tag along though? Now _that’s_ some commitment right there.

 

(Jisung’s nervous and it shows, he thinks, and he’s probably not wrong, either. His legs are jittery and his hands can’t still and the longer he looks at those bleached curls the more he thinks that it’s Chan, which isn’t helping his nervous feelings at all.)

 

He’s rubbing his hands on his jeans, willing the bus to go faster.

 

 **_0jin0:_ ** **_[image attachment]_ **

**_0jin0:_ ** _this is your stop, right?_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _yeah_

 

Oh. Does Jisung have to worry about being late if Hyunjin’s already waiting for him at the bus stop?

 

 **_0jin0:_ ** _ahhhh that’s good_

 **_0jin0:_ ** _i was worried i might have the wrong stop_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _are you picking me up?_

 **_0jin0:_ ** _yup!_

 **_0jin0:_ ** _i thought it’d be safer since idk if you know the area_

 **_0jin0:_ ** _+more time together!_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _cute_

 **_0jin0:_ ** _(u///u)_

 

Cute. Jisung glances out the window and sees his bus stop. Hyunjin’s there? Cute.

 

He pushes the button, signaling the driver to stop there. As he walks to the door he can see Chan and Changbin whispering to each other in the corner of his vision. He rolls his eyes. They should _really_ learn how to be more inconspicuous.

 

Jisung looks out the bus window to see Hyunjin sitting there, headphones in and staring at their phone. Jisung quickly opens back up their messages.

 

 **_squirrel:_ ** _cute_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _adorable_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _so soft_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _almost as soft as your smile_

 **_squirrel:_ ** _just a warning that my friends may or may not stalk us on our date btw_

 

He sees their head snap up. They look at him. He smiles.

 

“ _Fucking sap_.” He hears Chan cough out behind him. He turns and glares, reveling in the matching shocked expressions on Chan and Changbin’s face when they find out that they’ve been caught. Serves them right, assholes.

 

Jisung quickly faces the bus door when it opens, and steps out with a cheerful, “I didn’t expect to be picked up! How sweet of you!”

 

Hyunjin blushes and runs a hand through their hair. “Yeah I, uh, didn’t know if you knew the area. Or where the park is. Or if you could find me _in_ the park, since it’s pretty big.” They raise the picnic basket that they’re holding. “In any case, food!” Hyunjin’s smiling at him brightly, eyes scrunching up. Cute.

 

Jisung raises the bag of junk food and drinks that he brought. “And drinks!”

 

“Ah, yes.” Hyunjin moves so that they’re next to Jisung, lightly leading him to their destination. “Can’t have food without the drinks.” They pout. “Seriously, it’d be horrible, probably.”

 

Jisung hums in agreement. He doesn’t think that having a picnic with no drinks would be that big of a deal, in all honesty, but he’s also never really been on a picnic before. Besides, he doesn’t think that it would be _too_ bad if Hyunjin was there.

 

“I think it depends on the company.” He decides to say, if not only to fill in the silence.

 

Hyunjin runs their free hand through their hair before using it to prompt Jisung to turn the corner of the street with him. “Interesting.” They smile at him gleefully. “I can see that. It’d still be pretty not-fun to not have something to drink, though. Especially if it’s hot out, because then your throat gets all dry and hurts.”

 

He nods in agreement. “True, true.” He lightly taps Hyunjin with the bag. “Good thing we have some, then.”

 

“Yup!” Hyunjin pauses in their steps. In front of them is the entrance to the park. Hyunjin looks at him solemnly. “Jisung, the moment we enter the park is the moment we officially start this date.” They say, as though they’re narrating part before a final boss fight. “Are you ready? Keep in mind that it’s completely fine if you aren’t, and I really don’t mind waiting as long as you need.”

 

Jisung laughs. “Don’t worry, I’m ready when you are.”

 

Hyunjin claps their hands together before dramatically gesturing towards the entrance. “Then let the date commence.” They say in a ridiculous voice, smile bright on their face. Jisung thinks he could get used to this.

 

He walks through the entrance.

**Author's Note:**

> please tell me if i’m missing a tag or mistagged because i’m bone tired atm and my phone screen is blurry lmao
> 
> edit: still bone tired but I thought that you should know that the work in progress name for this was "Hyunjin is whipped and Seungmin's a dick" and coming up with this title was hard
> 
> also i love jimin park and april fools is a great song


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